We were given the task to find a problem that we encounter in our classrooms and then find a solution using technology. We were then asked to implement the solution in our classrooms and reflect back on it. For the final blog and presentation, we are to reflect on the entire project as a whole. My only problem: school was out before we started this project, leaving me with many unanswered questions and 2 solutions.
The Problem:
Educators look at content and technology as two separate entities, rather than one. Some educators believe that the best practices used to teach content cannot be integrated with technology. Research proves that active participation and collaboration enhance learning. Cooperative learning is one of the best practices in education. Schools want t the students to be actively participating and collaborating with others. However, we are given one document camera, one computer and one projector- it is a little difficult to involve ALL with only ONE. In order to maximize teaching time, it would be best to have all students participating and collaborating at the same time. It is important that teachers integrate best practices, content and technology in the classroom.
Solution #1:
iPads. ipads will allow students to both participate AND collaborate. Students can use GoogleDocs or GooglePresentation to create a paper or a presentation. Students could create a survey and have everyone answer it in a matter of minutes. The best part is that iPads are not only limited to active participation and collaboration, they have the ability to do so much more! Part of our project was to implement the solution into our classrooms and report back, but I ran into a major road block- school was out for the summer. So, I decided to find a second solution.
Solution #2:
Research. While I usually do a little research before implementing a new technology into my classroom, I usually do not got into an extensive search. However, for this process, I definitely searched around the internet for hours. This turned out to be very beneficial. I was shocked at all the information I found. Like other smaller Apple devices, I knew that the iPad did not support Flash sites. However, what I didn't know was that you can not edit a Prezi on an iPad nor can you edit a wiki. Two things I was hoping to do with the iPads in my classroom. This research allowed me to escape some technological difficulties that I may have come across in the classroom if it were not for the prior research. The research turned out to be a lot more beneficial than I thought.
TPACK
Technology and Pedagogy
In this instance the technology fits right into the pedagogy. As I stated earlier, research, such as Best Practices and Kagan Strategies, show that students benefit from cooperative and collaborative learning. The internet offers many different sites that have the ability for student collaboration. A perfect way to integrate technology and pedagogy. The iPad gives the students access to the internet to allow for the pedagogical strategies to take place. Students can do all this from their seats, without having to get a computer, turn it on, wait for it to load, etc. iPads can be up and running in much less time, and as we all know in education, time is precious.
Technology and Content
The generation we are teaching is different than ours. Technology is part of their lives. They have trouble grasping the concept of life before DVDs, MP3s, and cell phones. Part of their content is becoming technology. Put teaching technology as a separate entity may not be the best answer, especially if you can teach content and integrate technology. Teaching content doesn't have to be textbook, that the joy of technology. Tablets can be textbooks! Apple's motto for their handheld devices is: Thousands of Apps, Endless Potential. Apple has created an app for almost everything, almost every way to integrate content and technology. It is there, it is happening, it is available. But as educators, we have to find it, learn it, and apply it. The content is there for us lending itself to technology by using words as "collaborate" and "create" in the curriculum standards. iPads will give educators the flexibility that we don't have with laptops.
Pedagogy and Content
Using the teaching strategies of cooperative learning and collaborative groups, students can bring a whole new meaning to content with the help of an iPad. With an iPad at their fingertips students can work with people across the room in a group interacting on GoogleDocs and communicating with GoogleChat. With Skype students can learn culture and language through students across the world. This iPad is bringing pedagogy closer to the content then it has ever been before as it is taking the students to places they have never been. Group work is brought to an entire new level which holds every student accountable and create more active learners and they learn the various content. iPads are changing the way we do things in the classroom, but change is not always bad. In this case change is bringing technology, pedagogy and content all closer together and lessening the gap between the three.
As educators we need to embrace the now, learn from the past, and grow for our future. The iPad is the now of this generation.
Take a look at my Prezi of my presentation below:
For a larger version click here
Friday, June 24, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Professional Learning Plan
I decided to create a Prezi for my professional learning plan. My original idea was to create it using Storybird, but I think I was having TOO much fun and not getting anything done, so I switched to a Prezi, which has a lot less distractions. I looked back at my goals from CEP 810 and reflected on them. Take a look, tell me what you think!
Leadership Project
Here is our tutorial, check it out!
Since we were SO ambitious, we went a little bit over our 10 minute time, so we thought we would incorporate our introduction and conclusion on our blogs.
Since we were SO ambitious, we went a little bit over our 10 minute time, so we thought we would incorporate our introduction and conclusion on our blogs.
Group Leadership Project Conclusion on Prezi
Blog Questions:
What tool did your group use to deliver the PD tutorial? Why?
After deciding what topic our group was going to cover, we had to decide how to explain it. As a group we decided to create a Prezi while talking about a Prezi. Then, we used Camtasia to record our tutorial. We chose to use a Prezi while talking about a Prezi so that people could see exactly what we were talking about. We wanted our visual to go hand-in-hand with our presentation. We decided to record using Camtasia (using the free 30-day trial) since we found that some of the other programs were choppy and did not record as well.
What did you learn during the development process of the final product?
I have to say I learned a lot and it wasn't necessarily about Prezi itself, but rather time management, flexibility, and group work. Although we tried our best, it was clear that we went over the 10 minute mark. With that said, we were still not able to incorporate our intro and conclusion slides. Since we worked hard on these slides, we did want to include them in the blog to show that the effort was there (but the time management was not :( ) This project also required a lot of flexibility. Since only one person could record (due to many different factors), we relied on that one person to do what she needed to do to make it work for her. Our storyboard was great in hindsight, but it just was not feasible to complete it all in the time frame we were given. We had to be flexible and cut out certain aspects of our project. We not only had to be flexible with the actual project, but with each other. It was difficult managing 4 schedules on 2 different time zones with people both in and out of school. I know we all made sacrifices to meet and even some days we met 2 at a time and made sure to connect via e-mail to share what was going on. The one thing we did have: communication. I honestly can say I have never worked with such an amazing group before. I felt that everyone communicated well and we used our resources (Goggle chat feature, GoogleDocs, GooglePresentation, and Prezi) to make sure we could all collaborate and communicate.
What would you do differently if you had to develop a similar product again?
If I were given a similar project I think I would make sure that everything is feasible and doable. A couple trial runs would probably be beneficial to ensure that everything will go as planned. Also, that would give the group time to find the errors and try to fix them. I believe our group did the best we could with the circumstances we were given. It definitely makes things difficult trying to work with four different schedules. I would hope to try and complete a project of this nature face to face (although, I understand that is not always going to work out). As far as setting up the project, I think we did a great job, we collaborated, delegated and worked well together while still helping each other to make a cohesive project. It just seemed as though time got away. But we will use this experience as a learning experience and we can only get better next time!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Leadership Part B - Storyboard and Script
We have completed our group leadership project storyboard and script for our Prezi Presentation. Check out our storyboard and script here.
I have really enjoyed working with my group to create this project. We have all worked hard and have pulled our own weight in order to get this project complete. We decided to split our presentation into mini sections and each person would "research" their section and then write their part of the script. My part I contributed to the group was creating a Prezi. We decided to write our scripts in a GoogleDoc so that we would be able to communicate via the chat feature. After we all had our parts written, we transferred the information into a Google Presentation.
Once we had a part of the presentation up and running, we split up the work, since finding a meeting for all 4 of us was a bit difficult. However, this worked out just fine. Mary and Justine helped to embed our script from the GoogleDoc into the presentation. They added detailed notes and screenshots. Anna and I met to finish up the storyboard, add detailed notes, color coded the notes (since we are both visual people) and finished taking screenshots and writing about the editing process.
For our final product, Justine has been nice enough to narrate our presentation. (I'm very thankful that she agreed to do that.) Anna, Mary and I will collaborate together to create both an introduction and conclusion slide for the Google Presentation. Also, Justine has not used many of these technologies and offered to record and narrate the project as long as the other group members will be the technical support group and help along the way with any issues that may arise.
We are very excited for our final project and we have been working very hard!
I have really enjoyed working with my group to create this project. We have all worked hard and have pulled our own weight in order to get this project complete. We decided to split our presentation into mini sections and each person would "research" their section and then write their part of the script. My part I contributed to the group was creating a Prezi. We decided to write our scripts in a GoogleDoc so that we would be able to communicate via the chat feature. After we all had our parts written, we transferred the information into a Google Presentation.
Once we had a part of the presentation up and running, we split up the work, since finding a meeting for all 4 of us was a bit difficult. However, this worked out just fine. Mary and Justine helped to embed our script from the GoogleDoc into the presentation. They added detailed notes and screenshots. Anna and I met to finish up the storyboard, add detailed notes, color coded the notes (since we are both visual people) and finished taking screenshots and writing about the editing process.
For our final product, Justine has been nice enough to narrate our presentation. (I'm very thankful that she agreed to do that.) Anna, Mary and I will collaborate together to create both an introduction and conclusion slide for the Google Presentation. Also, Justine has not used many of these technologies and offered to record and narrate the project as long as the other group members will be the technical support group and help along the way with any issues that may arise.
We are very excited for our final project and we have been working very hard!
Mobile Learning
I really enjoyed this mobile learning lab. It was great to explore the different mobile devices and how to to encourage and promote learning in the classroom. As a part of this assignment, we joined Classroom 2.0 and joined a discussion about cell phones in the classroom. I really enjoyed this forum. I was able to read what others thought on the topic and was able to share my concerns about cell phones in the classroom.
While I am a bit skeptical about using cell phones in the classroom, I think an ipod is a wonderful alternative. It allows for students to use the internet and apps and you can monitor it more than their own cell phones. While researching for my Wicked Problem Project, I came across many great sites which stated education apps to put on the ipod and/or ipad. I loved that there were so many FREE apps to choose from. Since the device itself is expensive, I think it is important to find ways to implement it in the classroom at little or no cost. There are free apps that are great for elementary students as well as high school students.
I was excited to see Flash Drives as a mobile device- I've used this!! When my students would type papers, I would have them save the file to the flash drive or USB drive. This way I could take the little flash drive home with me rather than a stack of papers. I was also able to make comments and spend more individual time than I would have in the classroom. I think it is a great piece of technology to use, especially if printers are not available. My only concern: the spread of viruses.
My school also have a mobile lab or what we call the COW (computers on wheels). I have used these numerous times in my classroom. There are so many ways you can use them, especially since we have wireless internet in our building. However, with one computer or laptop can come issues, and with 25 laptops comes many issues. I do not think I have had one lesson run smoothly when I have used our mobile lab. But of course, I am convinced that every piece of technology has a mind of its own :)
I also enjoyed the Poll Everywhere site. I was not able to implement it due to school being out for the summer, but I still wanted to give it a try. I liked that the site offered various ways for people to respond. Text messages, twitter, or a website are just 3 different ways to reach this poll. I also liked how you can change the appearance of the poll and make it more your own. The site offered about 3 ways to display your data. Below is my poll I created, even though I was not able to get any results as of now, I still enjoyed browsing the site and playing with all the different options! There are so many options and this site is so easy to use- I look forward to trying out that different options next year! The first poll posted is the Web Voting Widget- where you can click on the answer to help me get responses.
This second way to show your poll is the Live Chart Widget which gives the number to text to answer the poll and displays the answers in real time.
There are so many tools and types of technology to use in the classroom. My advice would be to start our small, flash drives, and then move towards devices you are comfortable with using yourself. Research is also key! I learned this in my wicked problem project. The internet is a wonderful base of knowledge. People who have tried all sorts of ideas share their findings. You can research anything from free educational apps to how to edit movies using a flip camera. I think it is important to think about TPACK when implementing technology. Technology in education isn't about how many different devices you can use, but how well they can be incorporated into the content to impact learning. Using technology for the sake of using it, is not helping anyone.
While I am a bit skeptical about using cell phones in the classroom, I think an ipod is a wonderful alternative. It allows for students to use the internet and apps and you can monitor it more than their own cell phones. While researching for my Wicked Problem Project, I came across many great sites which stated education apps to put on the ipod and/or ipad. I loved that there were so many FREE apps to choose from. Since the device itself is expensive, I think it is important to find ways to implement it in the classroom at little or no cost. There are free apps that are great for elementary students as well as high school students.
I was excited to see Flash Drives as a mobile device- I've used this!! When my students would type papers, I would have them save the file to the flash drive or USB drive. This way I could take the little flash drive home with me rather than a stack of papers. I was also able to make comments and spend more individual time than I would have in the classroom. I think it is a great piece of technology to use, especially if printers are not available. My only concern: the spread of viruses.
My school also have a mobile lab or what we call the COW (computers on wheels). I have used these numerous times in my classroom. There are so many ways you can use them, especially since we have wireless internet in our building. However, with one computer or laptop can come issues, and with 25 laptops comes many issues. I do not think I have had one lesson run smoothly when I have used our mobile lab. But of course, I am convinced that every piece of technology has a mind of its own :)
I also enjoyed the Poll Everywhere site. I was not able to implement it due to school being out for the summer, but I still wanted to give it a try. I liked that the site offered various ways for people to respond. Text messages, twitter, or a website are just 3 different ways to reach this poll. I also liked how you can change the appearance of the poll and make it more your own. The site offered about 3 ways to display your data. Below is my poll I created, even though I was not able to get any results as of now, I still enjoyed browsing the site and playing with all the different options! There are so many options and this site is so easy to use- I look forward to trying out that different options next year! The first poll posted is the Web Voting Widget- where you can click on the answer to help me get responses.
Get a free sms student response system at Poll Everywhere
This second way to show your poll is the Live Chart Widget which gives the number to text to answer the poll and displays the answers in real time.
There are so many tools and types of technology to use in the classroom. My advice would be to start our small, flash drives, and then move towards devices you are comfortable with using yourself. Research is also key! I learned this in my wicked problem project. The internet is a wonderful base of knowledge. People who have tried all sorts of ideas share their findings. You can research anything from free educational apps to how to edit movies using a flip camera. I think it is important to think about TPACK when implementing technology. Technology in education isn't about how many different devices you can use, but how well they can be incorporated into the content to impact learning. Using technology for the sake of using it, is not helping anyone.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Data Visualization
We were given the task to browse through various visualization sites. After spending hours visiting the different sites, I decided to complete my visualization on UMapper. The site has so much to offer. I created a states and capitals quiz using many of the features on UMapper. Take a look and test your skills. :)
Monday, June 6, 2011
Wicked Problem Project- Part D- Findings and Implications
Part D of the Wicked Problem Project was to reflect on your problem and project.
Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned?
No, however it was not planned to be implemented, so yes?? I'm not quite sure how to answer that, but what I can say is that I was able to complete my research, play around with my iPad and use my husband to help me "pretend". Since I was not able to implement my idea into the classroom, I made sure to research the various ideas, watch videos of iPads being implemented into the classroom and play on my own all as planned :) .
Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice.
I would assume that my success would be the fact that various users can use Googledocs at the same time and collaborate in realtime. Success would be that although I encountered some bumps, I was able to learn MORE outside the classroom in order to be MORE efficient when I do bring it into the classroom.
How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you have learned?
If I was given the project at the same time (i.e. a week before school was ending) I would have used something I already completed in the classroom and reflect back. I think this is a very neat project, it requires you to think outside the box and actually implement your idea. If given this project again, I would also make sure that my project is obtainable with the resources I have. Although it may not be as exciting as someone else's, part of being a teacher is working with what you have.
What lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?
I believe that most people knew that iPads, iPhones, and iTouches do not support websites that need Flash, therefore those devices do not support all websites. But what came as the biggest surprise was that I could not edit "editable" sites. As I researched and entered forums (to make sure it just wasn't me) there were men and women who commented that they took their iPad with them on a business trip with hopes to finish their Prezi presentation only to learn the hard way, they could not edit it. So I have to say, I was happy to learn this by trial and research as opposed to while in the classroom. I also learned you could not edit other sites such as Moddle and Wikispaces.
In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what would you change or not do?
Although it was not part of my original plan, it turned out to be the best part of the plan. I could not implement my project, so I decided to play around and research. I learned so much while researching. I think it is important to research before implementing a piece of technology into that classroom. I would normally test it out on my own, but may have chalked up any problems to an user error. The research allowed me to learn about what cannot be done, ways to get around it and apps that let it happen. As for the actual implementation, I would make sure that the students were comfortable with the iPad and GoogleDocs before setting them free to collaborate in groups. OR have my lesson be the introduction lesson and take students step-by-step through the process. The thing about technology is that it is always changing and adapting, so therefore, you must change and adapt with it.
Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned?
No, however it was not planned to be implemented, so yes?? I'm not quite sure how to answer that, but what I can say is that I was able to complete my research, play around with my iPad and use my husband to help me "pretend". Since I was not able to implement my idea into the classroom, I made sure to research the various ideas, watch videos of iPads being implemented into the classroom and play on my own all as planned :) .
Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice.
I would assume that my success would be the fact that various users can use Googledocs at the same time and collaborate in realtime. Success would be that although I encountered some bumps, I was able to learn MORE outside the classroom in order to be MORE efficient when I do bring it into the classroom.
How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you have learned?
If I was given the project at the same time (i.e. a week before school was ending) I would have used something I already completed in the classroom and reflect back. I think this is a very neat project, it requires you to think outside the box and actually implement your idea. If given this project again, I would also make sure that my project is obtainable with the resources I have. Although it may not be as exciting as someone else's, part of being a teacher is working with what you have.
What lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?
I believe that most people knew that iPads, iPhones, and iTouches do not support websites that need Flash, therefore those devices do not support all websites. But what came as the biggest surprise was that I could not edit "editable" sites. As I researched and entered forums (to make sure it just wasn't me) there were men and women who commented that they took their iPad with them on a business trip with hopes to finish their Prezi presentation only to learn the hard way, they could not edit it. So I have to say, I was happy to learn this by trial and research as opposed to while in the classroom. I also learned you could not edit other sites such as Moddle and Wikispaces.
In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what would you change or not do?
Although it was not part of my original plan, it turned out to be the best part of the plan. I could not implement my project, so I decided to play around and research. I learned so much while researching. I think it is important to research before implementing a piece of technology into that classroom. I would normally test it out on my own, but may have chalked up any problems to an user error. The research allowed me to learn about what cannot be done, ways to get around it and apps that let it happen. As for the actual implementation, I would make sure that the students were comfortable with the iPad and GoogleDocs before setting them free to collaborate in groups. OR have my lesson be the introduction lesson and take students step-by-step through the process. The thing about technology is that it is always changing and adapting, so therefore, you must change and adapt with it.
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